


Kairos

by aninconsistentwriter



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Appreciation (Naruto), Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Bonding (Naruto), F/M, Family, Fuuinjutsu, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-War, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23908102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aninconsistentwriter/pseuds/aninconsistentwriter
Summary: Kairos (n.) the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words, or movementPerhaps they were being selfish. Perhaps it all would work out for the best. All they knew is that this time, they would be together.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 41
Kudos: 264





	1. Mizpah

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Kairos](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24698959) by [68_Omicron_Ceti](https://archiveofourown.org/users/68_Omicron_Ceti/pseuds/68_Omicron_Ceti)



> I have always loved fics that allow Team 7 to be a family, whether its in a romantic way or just a supportive way. I'm a die hard SasuNaru shipper but I do love a good SasuNaruSaku fic as well so here's my attempt at writing one! I have a feeling this will be a longer fic as it will span over many years.
> 
> Love to you all!

_mizpah (n.) the deep emotional bond between people, especially those separated by distance or death_

When Sasuke arrived at the academy the first morning he immediately sought out the familiar shock of blonde hair. He found him sitting on the window sill in the classroom, staring out on the village. The Uchiha made his way over to him, feeling a small hand slip into his for a moment before slipping back away just as quickly, the movement unnoticeable to anyone but the two of them. Sasuke turned his head to see Sakura smiling softly back at him. He breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the jutsu had worked for the two of them at least. 

Now to check on Naruto…

Sakura sped up to reach the jinchuuriki first, tapping him on the shoulder. The blonde boy turned towards the two of them with a wavering smile on his face and Sasuke could see that he was barely keeping tears from falling down his whiskered cheeks. Sasuke sighed inwardly. They had known that coming back would be difficult for them, the two boys especially. Sasuke had barely avoided a panic attack this morning himself when he saw his family sitting at the table for breakfast. But Naruto would have been alone when he awoke, alone in a barely livable apartment with all the reminders that the village hated him at this stage in his life. While Sasuke was getting to relive the best years of his life, and Sakura had never had the traumatic childhood her teammates had lived through, Naruto was going through some of the worst years of his existence. 

“Oh, Naruto don’t cry!” Sakura whispered, knowing they couldn’t bring too much attention to their different actions and personalities too quickly. She reached out and grasped Naruto’s small hand and squeezed. “Sasuke-kun and I are here this time. You won’t be alone.”

Naruto squeezed her hand before letting go. “I’ll be okay, Sakura-chan! It’s just a lot, remembering the differences. Ne, Sasuke… how are you holding up?” the blonde turned his attention to the raven-haired boy. 

“I’m fine, dobe,” Sasuke replied, smiling tenderly at his friend. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Iruka was looking at them with wide-eyes, surprised that the two rivals were talking so casually. “We better go find our seats before Iruka-sensei suspects anything. We’ll meet down at the dock after school today.” 

The other two nodded before going and finding their seats. Naruto sat in the back of the classroom while Sasuke sat a couple rows in front of him. Sakura, knowing she had to keep up appearances sat next to Sasuke and faked her way through appearing like her former lovesick self. She sighed, go figure. She finally puts her annoying crush on Sasuke behind her and the three of them are closer than ever, yet, now she has to act just like she used to. _This experiment better have the outcome they desire. It was torture to put themselves through all of this just for it to fail_ , the kunoichi thought to herself.

The three teammates muddled their way through their first day and at the end, separately made their way to the docks, still taking care to avoid detection. Sakura arrived first, taking a seat at the end of the dock and watched the water ripple as she waited for the two boys. She heard footsteps behind her and felt someone sit on her left side. She caught the glint of golden hair out of the corner of her eye and softly smiled, “I forgot how cute you were as a kid, Naruto! Those blue eyes of yours! How could I ever think Sasuke was the cutest in our class?” She smirked at him, enjoying the chance to taunt her best friend a little.

“Sakura-chan! Don’t be mean!” the blonde whined at her. “Besides, you never looked at me before! You only had eyes for Sasuke! _Oh Sasuke-kun! Can I sit next to you Sasuke-kun? Would you like to eat lunch with me today, Sasuke-kun!_ ” Naruto teased right back at her.

“Would you two knock it off. Being six again is painful enough, don’t make this harder,” Sasuke sighed from behind them. He held a small brown bag and he reached in to hand each of his teammates a stick of dango. They thanked him as he took a seat on the opposite side of Sakura from Naruto. He bit into a dumpling and looked at his two friends. “So, now that we have confirmed all three of us made it back what’s our course of action?”

Naruto set down his dango stick, having greedily gobbled the three dumplings down quickly. Sasuke frowned at that, making a note in the back of his head to come back to that later. He had some suspicions. The blonde looked up at the sky, leaning back on his hands. “For now, we need to keep a low profile. We have approximately a year until the massacre and we have six until we become a genin. Our first goal is to stop the massacre and save Itachi. But if we suddenly start acting differently, people will get suspicious. Especially of me,” he said bitterly.

Sakura put a small hand on top of Naruto’s thigh, “but if we only have a year to stop the massacre, we can’t wait too long to act. The Uchiha will already be making plans at this point. I’m sure they have been for years, honestly. Obito said they had been growing restless since Kurama attacked the village.”

“No, we can’t wait too long. I think we may need to talk to Itachi and bring him on this. Even though we know what will happen, we are still in our six year old bodies. We don’t have our strength from our older bodies. Not to mention, it will basically be impossible to do this without informing someone and I don’t trust the Sandaime Hokage to handle this,” Sasuke replied. 

Naruto looked contemplative for a moment, “Itachi would probably be the best person to entrust this knowledge to. Shisui-san may even be another person we bring into this. Both his and Itachi’s loyalty to the village and wish for peace were really what protected us in many instances. Sasuke, are you able to activate the Sharingan?” 

The raven hair boy nodded, “yes, both the standard Sharingan and my Mangekyou were activated last night when I woke up in this body. I don’t know if I’ll be able to activate the Rinnegan however. I don’t think this body could withstand that.”

Sakura nodded at this, “honestly it’s surprising you were able to carry the Mangekyou with you as well. We should probably monitor things with you for a bit. Don’t activate it for the time being and keep me informed of any headaches or vision problems. Now, the other question at hand is Naruto’s seal. Have you been able to communicate with Kurama yet?”

“No, the seal is still tight. I can’t even access the slightest bit of his chakra. I’ll have to figure out how to crack the seal without the key if I want to communicate with the stubborn fox before Ero-Sennin comes around,” Naruto sighed. That was the other painful part of this experience, he thought to himself, _not only am I back in a village that hates me but I’ll have to start from scratch with Kurama._ It had been at least a year since the blonde and the Bijuu had opened the seal and begun communicating openly. It was a strange form of loneliness, the quietness in his head, he realized. 

The whole situation was strange, if the three shinobi were being honest with themselves. While they had won the war, peace wouldn’t last. The shinobi villages broke out into fighting mere months after Team 7 had defeated Kaguya. Iwagakure and Kirigakure felt slighted at the fact that Konohagakure and Kumogakure had retained their jinchuuriki. They felt the balance of power could never be equal as long as Naruto had so much power. The fact that Sasuke returned to Konoha as well irritated them further as they felt it put too much power at Konoha’s disposal. Kumogakure had resolutely decided to stay out of any negotiations as soon as the Tsuchikage had suggested that Naruto and Bee no longer be allowed to be active members of a village. 

Gaara stood by his alliance with Konoha, which had caused further strife. The Tsuchikage and Mizukage had challenged the young Kage, claiming that he was blinded by his feelings as a former jinchuuriki as well as his close friendship with Naruto. The two disgruntled nations had withdrawn from any form of peace talks and instead allied themselves with each other. 

Naruto had attempted to talk with the two angry Kages, genuinely wanting peace. But when he refused to step down as a shinobi (and in their opinions, a potential weapon against them) and remove himself from contention as a future Hokage, they had shut their ears to his pleas. The nations were back to constant conflict, the Allied Nations no longer. 

It had been Shikamaru, genius Shikamaru, who had posed the thought. He had wondered aloud at what event in the past would need to be changed in order to avoid the war and the insane loss of life that had come with it. Sakura had recognized the pondering as the genius’ way of grieving the loss of his father, and perhaps even his sensei. However, what the young Nara had considered a throw away thought had become a worm in Sakura’s brain. It plagued her for a week straight before she finally confessed to her two best friends during a late night drinking session. _What was the event that could have changed everything?_

The two men had been stunned into silence. It bore some thought as there were literal centuries of events that had been carefully cultivated by Black Zetsu in his efforts to revive Kaguya. Still, it seemed that several of the events that had led to the war and the powerful woman’s revival were incredibly recent. Black Zetsu had needed both the Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan and he had only barely achieved that with Madara. If they stopped Madara at some point in his insanely complicated plan, could everything be avoided? Or at least placed on hold until Black Zetsu could be stopped?

The possibilities ate at the trio. 

If they managed it… 

_Itachi could have been saved._

_Sasuke would have never left the village._

_Jiraiya wouldn’t die at the hands of his former students._

_Neji wouldn’t die._

_So many people would still be alive_.

They were dangerous thoughts. All three of them knew it. After all, there was no way of knowing for sure that changing the past would mean that the people they loved and cared for would still be safe. Still, the idea was there, sticking in their brains and for once, the team who had sacrificed so much were struck by the most terrifying thought…

_They were being selfish._

For Naruto and Sakura especially, this was a difficult concept to grasp. They had worked for years to become stronger in order to save others. While there had been a certain element of selfishness to their choices throughout the years since Sasuke had left the village, their ultimate goals had always been in an effort to help other people. 

Sasuke was confronted with other thoughts, however. He had spent the last several years acting selfishly. He had worked in an effort to achieve goals that would ultimately only benefit him. It had only been at the eleventh hour that he had chosen to shed his goals of vengeance and revolution in a mistaken attempt to honor Itachi’s name. Still, his actions had long been selfish and he could not claim to be a selfless man currently either. Was it right to make another selfish choice?

Of course, they all thought, these thoughts were all banking on the idea that such an action would be possible. There was no harm in _merely_ _imagining the possibilities._ After all, Shikamaru had thought the same thing!

They collectively agreed that such thoughts were only a fantasy for them to discuss when the three got together. Of course, the fact that all three were living together (an effort to conserve space in the still recovering village, they told themselves) meant that the topic came up frequently. Before too long, a pros and cons list was written, constantly being added to whenever one of the shinobi thought of another reason. It was still fantasy however, they told themselves.

About three months after their first discussion they all realized it was not a fantasy. Naruto, in an effort to reclaim some form of heritage, had dove headfirst into researching fuuin jutsu after the war. Surprisingly, Orochimaru had been of some assistance to the young Uzumaki in this. The rogue sannin had offered up the texts he had recovered of the Uzumaki clan’s seals, having already devoured everything in them himself. Naruto had been surprised but he also recognized the peace offering for what it was. The former Konoha shinobi hoped that by fostering a working relationship with the jinchuuriki he would avoid retribution for his past when the blonde became Hokage. 

Still, Naruto didn’t complain about the chance to create a connection with his lost heritage.

It was while he was researching how Orochimaru had been able to reverse the Reaper Death Seal that he realized how their little fantasy could be accomplished. In a near manic episode, he explained to his friends. Sasuke and Sakura had sat there watching the blonde in shock. 

Another thought hit the trio all at once…

_Were they really going to do this?_

~~_Yes._ ~~

~~_No._ ~~

_Fuck, they were going to do this._

They made rules, in an effort to assuage their guilt. This was not just about them. This was an experiment, an effort to reverse the lives that were wrongfully taken due to the actions of a handful of madmen. They drew up a timeline of important events that Black Zetsu and Madara had used to achieve their goals. Obito’s “death” was an important one, however, they could only travel back to times when they were alive. They also couldn’t go back too far in their own timeline. The minds of adults existing in the bodies of babies or toddlers would be too difficult to mask. So, they pinpointed the next major event that had aided their enemies…

_The Uchiha Massacre_.

If they could stop the massacre, if they could save Itachi from becoming the village’s sacrificial lamb, that would at least give them some time for their bodies to grow older and stronger. Then they could go after Obito, Madara, and Black Zetsu. 

They also had to vow to allow other events unfold as they naturally would. They couldn’t interfere and save every single person. They were shinobi and shinobi will die in the line of duty. They had no idea exactly how changing certain events would affect the timeline. They all agreed they would only step in and make changes when they were attempting to avoid the war and Kaguya’s revival.

And so, with their rules and goals, the three friends made their choice and performed the jutsu that placed them in their six year old selves


	2. Orenda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 begin their lives as their six year old selves!

_ orenda (n.) a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or to effect change in their own lives _

Evening had begun falling around them, the sky gliding into darker blues and soft purples, a scattering of stars slowly appearing. Sakura sighed, “I should get going. Mom and Dad will be wondering where I am.” She pecked both boys on the cheek before standing. “Sasuke, I think one of us needs to walk Naruto home if we’re out till dark for the time being. We may be avoiding suspicion, but I won’t have my best friend attacked!” She remembered Naruto mentioning a few encounters when he had been younger where some drunk villagers had been a little more aggressive in their hatred of the “demon” and she would be damned if it happened again.

The boys looked at her with a tinge of fear. Sakura could be scary when she was being protective of Naruto. If the boys were being honest with themselves, Sakura was scary a lot of the time.

“Come on, Dobe. Let’s get you home,” the Uchiha said as he rose. He held a hand out to the blonde boy and helped him stand as well. The three friends walk to the road before going their separate ways for the night, Sakura giving them a jaunty wave goodnight. The boys gave their own wave in return as they continued on their way. 

The two walked in silence for a few moments, letting the cool evening air surround them. It was Sasuke, surprisingly, who broke the quiet however, “Naruto, I have to ask… do you have enough food right now? I noticed that you didn’t have anything at lunch.” ~~He didn’t mention how quickly Naruto had eaten the dango treat earlier.~~

The blonde next to him stiffened for a moment before sighing, “I guess I’m at the end of the month for when the Hokage gives me my monthly allowance. It’s supposed to be enough to get me through the month but even buying cheap crap I always struggled by the end. I didn’t have anything left in the apartment this morning when I woke up. I think Hokage-jiji stops by in the next couple of days though.” Naruto looked straight ahead of him, his jaw clenched. It irked him, being forced to remember how hard things were before he became a part of Team 7 and had earned his own money. 

Sasuke let a huff of air out of his mouth, “I thought so. Sakura and I will make sure to bring extra lunch. And if you ever don’t have enough money for groceries you WILL let us know. We came back to change things and that includes things about our own lives. Sakura and I already discussed this, you won’t be left to suffer this time. Like she said, fuck avoiding bringing attention to ourselves if it means you are starving and being harrassed.” The blonde nodded, feeling oddly embarrassed, even though he knew that it wasn’t his fault. 

The boys turned the last corner to Naruto’s apartment. As if fate had a sick sense of humor, one of the blonde’s neighbors was outside at that point. The old man’s eyes narrowed when he saw the blonde. Sasuke noticed the action and he flashed his Sharingan at the man who jumped and quickly went into his own apartment. Sasuke smirked. Sakura probably would have yelled at him but Sasuke didn’t care. The man was a civilian and probably had no idea who Sasuke even was. He stood behind the blonde as the younger boy dug in his pocket for his keys. Naruto unlocked his door and turned towards his friend, “thanks for walking me home, Teme. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Hn, just remember what I said, Dobe. Have a good night,” Sasuke replied, taking his leave with a small wave. He needed to get going if he was going to be home in time for dinner, his curfew during his academy days.  _ It’s odd _ , he thought to himself, _ readjusting to have a family and rules to follow. _

The trio spent the next couple of weeks readjusting to their childhood lives. For Sakura and Sasuke, the idea of having to answer to anyone besides their superiors in the field, was difficult. Sasuke especially struggled with it, having been without any form of parental guidance since the age of seven. He often had spouts of crabbiness after dealing with his parents. He tried not to take them out on his friends, however, he knew that many times he failed. Sakura and Naruto were understanding and patient. When Sasuke snapped at them over something stupid they simply smiled and held his had as they walked.

Naruto, however, had to adjust to a life where he was alone for a large chunk of time. He had grown accustomed to living with his two teammates before they had performed the jutsu. Even small things, like doing household chores caused an ache in his heart. His apartment had become their typical meeting place and his two friends strove to spend every spare moment they could with him, but it didn’t change the fact that at the end of the day they went home to their families and the blonde was once again left alone. 

They were also slowly integrating their friendship into their school lives as well. Sasuke started sitting next to Naruto most days. Sakura made a special point to greet both boys, calmly and without her fangirl squealing, each morning. 

It was during the first sparring session that the two boys knew they had a way to bring their friendship more to the open. Instead of the dramatics of the past that Iruka had come to dread whenever the two sparred, this time, the two boys acted completely differently. Neither boy could fight full out of course, it would be too noticeable, but Sasuke made a split second decision when Naruto landed a particularly hard punch in his stomach. When Iruka called the match in Naruto’s favor the blonde jumped and yelled in glee, his eyes glinting at his friend with humor.

“Naruto! Calm down! Now both of you, perform the unity sign,” Iruka stated, somewhat apprehensive, ignoring the yells of disbelief from the girls behind him. He was prepared for a brawl but was instead surprised at the two boys’ actions.

“Hn, not bad dobe. Seems you’ve finally decided to get your act together,” Sasuke smirked at his opponent, his hand held out for the unity sign.

Naruto, watching Sasuke’s dark eyes dance with restrained laughter, grinned at the boy as he reached out in return. “Just you wait, teme! You’ll never beat me again!” 

“Doubtful, you just got lucky. Next time you won’t even land a single blow!”

“Ha! You wish, teme!” the blonde grinned at him. Iruka looked at the boys in shock but decided not to question the situation. If it meant less drama in his classroom, he wasn’t going to try and figure it out.  _ Plus, maybe this meant Naruto would have a friend _ , the teacher thought to himself with a small smile.

Over the next month the trio slowly began showing their classmates and teachers the buddings of a friendship. At one point Iruka asked Naruto what had changed between him and Sasuke and the jinchuuriki simply replied “he stopped being such a bastard.” Iruka, of course, yelled at him for his language.

It was after about a month of living their new normal that Sasuke announced something that took the other two by surprise. “My mom and dad asked me to invite you over for dinner this Friday,” he told his friends. “Apparently, they want to meet my friends because the idea of their children having friends is a foreign concept to them since Itachi is such an antisocial weirdo. Well, my mom is the one who wants to meet you. I don’t think my dad cares.”

Naruto and Sakura gaped at their friend. That was… well, unexpected. But it did give them an opening. Naruto grinned slyly, “Ne, Teme! Will your brother be there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying this! I appreciate any feedback you have :)  
> Next chapter we will meet Itachi!


	3. Meliorism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 takes the risk and talks to Itachi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna say it now... this chapter is extremely dialogue heavy and that is not my strongest suit as a writer. I hope you guys enjoy this!
> 
> This chapter also explores where Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are at ability wise.

_ meliorism (n.) the belief that the world gets better; the belief that humans can improve the world _

Sakura and Naruto stood outside the Uchiha compound holding hands. Neither had ever visited the compound before. The empty, bloodstained buildings had been too foreboding and full of pain. Seeing it now, in daylight with people walking around as if they weren’t possibly doomed to die within a year was disconcerting. Naruto looked at his best friend and saw tears surfacing in her green eyes, “it won’t happen this time, Sakura. Sasuke isn’t going to leave us.” He gave her his biggest ‘I’m a giant ball of sunshine, please love me’ smile which she returned.  _ Things were going to be different this time _ .

“Sakura! Naruto!” The two turned their attention towards the compound entrance where the voice came from and saw Sasuke running towards them, waving his arm wildly at them with a grin on his young face.  _ Well that’s a sight I never thought I’d see _ , Naruto thought to himself. 

Behind Sasuke, Itachi was calmly walking towards them, looking indulgent towards his younger brother. “My mom said nii-san had to walk you guys to our house! And he has to walk you both home after dinner as well and Mom said I could come with you!” There was a quick flash that betrayed Sasuke’s true intentions behind giving this information and his friends picked it up just as quickly. 

Itachi reached them and motioned for them to follow him, “come on, we don’t want to be late for dinner”. The three “younger” children followed behind the taller boy. It took them about five minutes before they reached their destination and the three friends chatted idly about their school work and training. They were extremely aware of how they spoke, carefully making sure to appear childish. It wouldn’t serve them well if Itachi became suspicious of them before they were able to approach him.

Mikoto was at the door waiting for them. She smiled at the children, “you must be Naruto and Sakura! Sasuke has been talking non-stop about you two. I’m so glad to meet you.” The two children worked their ways through the necessary pleasantries and they followed the Uchihas into the house. They made their way to the dining area where Fugaku sat at the table, reading over a scroll with a slight downturn to his mouth. He looked up when he heard them entering the room, “ah, you’re back. Nice to meet you Sakura,” he nodded at her before his eyes moved over to the blonde. Naruto stiffened between his two friends, unsure of what Fugaku would say to him.  _ Surely he wouldn’t allow Mikoto to invite him if he saw him as the demon? Right? _ the blonde thought, feeling the usual dread creeping up his back that came when someone’s eyes focused on him. “Naruto, nice to meet you as well. It seems you are proving yourself to be a good training partner for my Sasuke,” the older man said with a short nod. The three children let out the breath none of them had realized they were holding. Naruto, however, didn’t miss the way Itachi’s eyes squinted at them for a moment. 

They all took a seat at the tatami table when Mikoto brought out the food. Dinner passed without any major incidents. Mikoto and Fugaku questioned their guests on how their schooling was going and what they hoped to focus on after graduation. Itachi was quiet for the most part, only answering his parents when directly asked a question. When all the dishes had been cleared away, Sasuke asked if Itachi could take the three of them to the park before walking Naruto and Sakura home. “If Itachi agrees to it, I see no issues. Just be home in time for your bath, Sasuke,” Mikoto answered. The three teammates cheered before looking at Itachi imploringly. The older boy sighed before agreeing. 

They all walked together, Sakura between her two boys holding their hands. Naruto looked at the other two and nodded, “Ne, Itachi-san! Is there a place we can all talk that’s safe?”

The older boy stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the three younger children. They no longer had cherubic, childish glints to their eyes. Rather, there was a serious air about them that Itachi knew he had to take seriously. He nodded, “there’s a spot Shishui and I use when we need to talk. Follow me,” Itachi replied before taking off in a run.

They followed behind, running quickly to keep up with Itachi’s longer legs. About ten minutes later, they all came to a small open area amongst the forest surrounding Konoha. Itachi stopped and looked at the three kids. “Sit down, aniki. This is going to be a long conversation,” said Sasuke. The jounin nods and sits on the ground, his Sharingan activated and slowly turning while his hand rests close to one of his weapons pouches.

“The Sharingan is able to tell if you are lying. I’m sure you’re aware of this, Sasuke, but I would like you two to know that I will not hesitate to act if I catch you lying. Something tells me that you three are not what you appear”.

The three teammates had already decided that Naruto would take the lead in this conversation as they hadn’t wanted to put Sasuke in the place of having to recount the painful knowledge of his family dying and his beloved brother’s sacrifice. “Don’t worry, Itachi-san. We probably know more about the Sharingan than you do at this point,” he paused at the look of surprise that came across Itachi’s face for a moment, internally laughing at having broken the stoic boy’s concentration, even if it was only for a second. 

“This won’t be an easy conversation to have, for any of us. We also won’t be able to tell you everything tonight. There just isn’t time since Sasuke here has to have a bath tonight apparently,” the blonde grinned at the growl that escaped from his best friend. “But we will start with the basics, we are the older versions of ourselves. We used a rather complicated sealing jutsu in order to travel back to this time, or rather specifically, our past selves. We are hoping to avoid certain things in the future by changing key events in our past. These events caused immense loss of life. We cannot return to our previous time, we will continue to live the rest of our lives in this timeline. We have retained our knowledge and many of our skills from our previous timeline. This includes me knowing Sage Arts, Sakura knowing medical ninjutsu that rivals Tsunade of the Sannin, and Sasuke is able to activate both the regular Sharingan as well as the Mangekyou”. At that Naruto turned his head towards Sasuke, who nodded and activated his Sharingan followed by activating his Mangekyou.

Itachi had given up any pretense of pretending to be unphased by these revelations and his mouth was slightly open as his looked at his younger brother. He turned his attention to Naruto, “why are you telling me this?”

“Because, you are a central figure to the first event that we need to change. We know the Uchiha are planning a coup. We also know that the Hokage and the elders are relying on you to spy on them. In approximately ten months, you will be ordered to assassinate all the Uchiha clan members, minus Sasuke, by Danzo. You agree to do this because besides your love for Sasuke, the most important thing for you is keeping Konoha safe. In our timeline, you sacrificed everything to ensure the safety of the village to the point that the world saw you as a coldblooded traitor who killed his family on a whim. You left Sasuke alive knowing he would seek revenge and allowed him to kill you”. 

The blonde paused, grabbing Sasuke’s hand when he felt the other boy start shaking. Sakura looked at her two friends and continued on for the blonde boy, “we are telling you this because we want to stop the massacre. We are hoping that stopping the massacre and changing the Uchiha’s attitudes will allow for the beginnings of the future we are hoping comes about this time”. 

Naruto finished, knowing that revealing more would only confuse the Uchiha at this time. They needed to know if he would assist them before laying out the full scope of what they were trying to achieve. He continued to hold Sasuke’s hand tightly, feeling how stiff his friend had become with worry and shame. Sasuke probably would never fully get over his feelings of shame for some of the choices he had made in the midst of his grief. 

Itachi looked upon the three of them carefully, “and what are you hoping I can do that will change these outcomes? The Uchiha have been festering in their hatred and focused on their perceived slights for generations now. The Hokages' choices during and after the Kyuubi’s attack only cemented them further and gave them a springboard to plan the coup. As far as I am aware, the plans for the coup are coming to a close. I don’t know how their minds could be changed at this point.”

Sasuke breathed a near silent sigh of relief next to Naruto, tension leaving his body at the knowledge that his brother wasn’t going to reject them outright. “We are aware that this is not an easy task. Father in particular will be hard pressed to back down for fear of appearing weak to the clan. However, if it seems like the Hokage and elders have naturally decided to lift some of the restraints they have placed on the Uchiha, then even he will have to concede that continuing with the coup would not be in the clan’s best interest,” the younger Uchiha explains.

“So what are you proposing? I’m assuming that you haven’t told the Hokage since you are the ones explaining this to me and not him. How can we convince the clan that the Hokage and elders have organically decided to appease the Uchiha without it appearing like I’m working behind the scenes? Father is under the impression that I side with him and am acting as a spy for his sake, not the other way around.”

Naruto grinned at this, knowing that Itachi would probably consider him crazy for this plan but then again, Itachi himself planted the idea in him. Quite literally. “Ne, Itachi-san… does Shisui have his Mangekyou yet?”

Itachi’s eyes widened at this, the Sharingan fading away to black pools. “Sou ka, you know that much? Yes, he awakened it about a year ago to my knowledge. You’re planning to use that genjutsu then? I suppose that means you plan on telling him as well…” he trailed off, eyes flickering to the surprising shinobi in front of him. 

“We’ve been planning on telling him as well as you from the beginning. We knew that doing all of this on our own would be impossible, even with our foreknowledge and skills. You and Shishui are two shinobi who dedicated their lives to peace, even at the cost of their own lives,” Sakura explained. “We don’t like the idea of using genjutsu to achieve this but we can think of no other way without exposing ourselves and we absolutely cannot do that. If it was anyone else, I doubt the elders would put up much fuss about time travel but the fact that it’s Naruto who performed the sealing jutsu… well, we don’t think it would end well for us”.

Sasuke looked at his older brother, “you are aware of Naruto’s secret, correct?” Itachi nodded. “He’s a large part of why we think Shisui’s genjutsu is the best choice. If Danzo or the other elders found out that Naruto has as much knowledge as he does at this point in time, his safety would be compromised. Danzo sees Naruto as a double-edged sword. To Danzo, Naruto is a weapon but he’s also an extremely dangerous person if allowed to gain too much power and independence.”

“I assume you are planning to do something about Danzo as well, then?” Itachi asked.

“Yes, probably within the next year or two we need Danzo to have an ‘accident’,” Sakura replied, a glint in her eye. “I’ll be the one in charge of that. Medical ninjutsu can be hard to trace if done properly.” 

Itachi nodded at that.  _ She is definitely far more dangerous than she appears, _ the jounin thought to himself. The preteen laid on his back, taking in the darkening sky while considering his next course of questioning. “Naruto-kun, you mentioned that your abilities from your previous timeline followed you here. Could you explain that a little more clearly so I know what all you three are capable of?”

Naruto nodded, “while we are limited by what our current bodies can handle, we retained the knowledge of what our previous abilities entail. The biggest challenge we face is our chakra supply and control as well as conditioning our bodies for taijutsu again. In our previous timeline I was able to make at least a thousand shadow clones at a time. Currently I’m at a few hundred.” Itachi’s eyes widened at that. A person being able to make one shadow clone was impressive enough. He’s only met a couple jounin who were able to make multiple and they typically didn’t last very long. “I had signed a summoning contract with the toads in my previous timeline and I  _ may _ have snuck into Hokage-jiji’s office to find out where Jiraiya was around the time when we first arrived here. It ended up being a village close by so we snuck out so I could resign my contract.” Naruto snickered, “We caught Ero-sennin when he was passed out drunk so I stole the summoning scroll from him for a bit. Besides you, the toads are the only ones who know what’s going on. I can also perform Yondaime's rasengan”. He decided to leave out rasen-shuriken for the time being as Itachi’s eyes were kinda comically large at this point.

“I can use my medical ninjutsu to an extent but I need to wait for my body to mature more before I can get back my supply and control. I was trained by Tsunade and was working to become the head medic-nin at the hospital.” Sakura paused, thinking for a moment, “I can also punch hard” she said, an evil grin growing on her face as the two boys next to started nodding their heads quickly.

“Itachi-san, Sakura-chan is scary!” Itachi just nodded slowly in response, regretting he had asked them to explain their abilities.

Sasuke snorted at his two friends, “Hatake Kakashi was our genin instructor. So besides clan techniques and Sharingan jutsus, I can do his chidori. Like these two my taijutsu needs work as well as my supply and control. Of course, the dobe here is basically swimming in chakra so it’s about making sure he actually learns the basics this time,” he was interrupted by a quick “shut it, teme!” but continued on, “Our goal is to be relatively close to our previous ability within two years. We are basically spending every extra moment we can training together.”

“So my little brother and his two friends are actually adults,” Itachi paused, “how old are you three?”

“Eighteen,” they replied.

“Right, so my little brother and his two friends are actually eighteen year olds in their six year old bodies trying to change the future. They have abilities that even an average jounin could only dream of. They want to use my best friend’s powerful genjutsu to trick the most powerful shinobi in our village to forgive a clan that is planning a coup in order to avoid said coup so that I do not have to massacre all of them. And that’s just scratching the surface, correct?” Itachi said, still laid on his back staring at the now dark sky. “This is all very complicated.”

The three teammates looked at the jounin, “Ne, Sasuke, did we break your brother?” Naruto asked, his head tilting to the side. 

Sakura giggled, “Shinobi throughout the five countries fear him and yet we managed to break him with a conversation!”

“You didn’t break him! Nii-san tell them you aren’t broken!”

“I’m not broken. It is however late. I need time to think of how best to go about this on my end and to bring Shisui into the fold. Let’s walk Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan home. I do not have any missions planned for Sunday and Shisui should be around that day as well. We can meet here at one in the afternoon on Sunday and I’ll hopefully have Shisui with me.” The preteen stood up and brushed his clothes off. “Come on, we need to get Sasuke home for his bath time.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! Next chapter we meet my favorite Uchiha, Shisui!


	4. Mudita

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shisui is brought into the plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just want to get this out of the way real quick... Itachi suspects that there is something romantic going on amongst our lovely trio. There will be nothing physical between them until they are MUCH older. They may have the minds of their eighteen year old selves but they are in the bodies of their six year old selves and I'm not a creep like that.

_ mudita (n.) taking delight in the happiness of others, vicarious joy _

Itachi was rubbing his temples exaggeratedly, wishing to be anywhere but where he currently was. To anyone besides Itachi, Shisui was the image of a stoic and powerful Uchiha. However, as soon as the elder teen was alone with Itachi (or Sasuke, but Itachi believed that had more to do with the fact that Shisui loved torturing his little brother) he turned into a talkative  _ terror to society _ . Or at least to Itachi’s waning sanity. Itachi had revealed the strange conversation he had had with the strange trio and while Shisui took most of it in stride  _ because it was Shisui and nothing seemed to faze him he was worse than Kakashi-senpai for fuck’s sake _ , there was one point he seemed stuck on.

“You’re seriously telling me you think your brother is involved in some strange polyamourous relationship with his two teammates?”

Itachi was beginning to regret relaying that particular observation. It had just spilled out in his rush to relay everything. He cursed his Sharingan and his superior skills of observation. Sasuke hadn’t  _ said _ anything about it but even for friends the trio were insanely in tune to each other. Plus, he’d never known Sasuke to be a touchy feely person and yet he couldn’t seem to stop touching his two friends. 

“Wait, do you think Sasuke-kun was  _ sle _ -”

“Say one more word about it and I will stab you.” Itachi gave up trying to stop the piercing headache and instead resigned himself to suffering. 

Shisui sighed dramatically and sat down on the grass with a graceful  _ swish _ and looked at Itachi who took a seat next to him. A change of subject was needed before Itachi felt the need to murder him. “How powerful are they really?”

“I observed one of their training sessions this weekend. All three of them claim they are nowhere near their previous ability levels, however I would be hard pressed to beat them myself. I think they would definitely be a challenge for you as well. They aren’t telling me everything either. They claim Sasuke has the Mangekyou Sharingan but it seems powerful even for the Mangekyou.”

Shisui hummed at that, “and Naruto?”

“His chakra is off the charts.” There was a touch of awe in Itachi’s voice as he thought about the blonde shinobi. “For all their claims about supply and control issues, I would venture a guess that Sasuke and Sakura’s chakra levels easily put them in the jounin category. Naruto however, I don’t think he could even be categorized. His control is atrocious, but Sakura says that’s always been an issue for him because he just  _ has so much of it _ .”

_ The whole idea of it was rather terrifying _ , Shisui thought to himself _ , if they are saying that they aren’t even at their previous levels and Itachi is that impressed by them. I wonder what they were like at their peak? _

The two friends sat in silence while they waited for the other three to arrive. Itachi laid back on the cool grass, closing his eyes in an attempt to lessen the pounding in his head. A short while later, the two teenagers looked up as a loud voice yelled out, “Sakura-chan! Itai!”

“Baka! We told you not antagonize anyone with your stupid pranks! We’re trying to keep a low profile!”

“Sakura, giving him further brain damage won’t help us.”

“Don’t even start with me, Uchiha! I can’t prove it but I have a feeling you were helping him!”

“Hn.”

“Teme, don’t start that monosyllable bullshit!”

“I’m surprised you even know the word monosyllable, dobe.”

Itachi and Shisui flinched harshly as the sound of a fist making contact with a head resounds. Sakura appeared in the clearing, arms crossed and annoyance plain on her face. She smiles quickly when she notices the two dark haired teenagers, “oh you guys are already here!” She walks over to them before taking a seat on the ground, all the while with a sweet smile on her face.

The two older boys internally shudder.  _ She’s terrifying,  _ Shisui thinks.

Naruto and Sasuke came stumbling through the trees shortly after, both sporting various bruises. “Sakura-chan! You’re so mean! It was a small prank! It’s not like the time I painted the Hokage heads!”

Shisui let out a barking laugh which caught Naruto’s attention. He grinned at him slyly, “See! Shisui-san appreciates my amazing sense of humour!”

“Shisui is a vagrant who steals my tomatoes and my brother. Can we get this over with? I have a headache,” Sasuke said.

The two boys took a seat on the ground, leaving an arm’s length berth between them and their pink-haired teammate who  _ kept on smiling like she was the sweetest thing ever. _ Itachi was becoming more and more disturbed by the trio every moment he spent with them. “It seems your headache is due to your own stupidity, otouto. I have little sympathy for you.”

Sasuke glared at his brother.

“Anyways! Hello all! Thank you ever so much for inviting me to this lovely picnic of yours!” Shisui exclaimed, stopping the glaring contest between the two brothers before everyone left there with scorch marks and no eyebrows. “While I’m enjoying the obvious camaraderie between you, we do need to get this discussion underway. So, what’s the plan?” 

Sasuke took a deep breath, straining not to glare at his infuriating cousin. Shisui had always managed to defy all the stereotypes of being an Uchiha but it never failed to make Sasuke want to chuck his kunai at the grinning teenager. “Our biggest obstacle is Danzo. He uses the Uchiha massacre to further his own goals.” He stops for a moment and looks at his two teammates, hesitating, unsure if he should reveal the full truth of Danzo’s thirst for power. 

Naruto, as always, proves himself to be bold and somewhat tactless. “Danzo is going to steal one of your eyes to obtain your Mangekyou. You then give Itachi your other eye before killing yourself. That basically is the kickoff to the massacre. We need to kill Danzo before he finds out about what your Mangekyou is capable of.”

Sometimes it was difficult for Sasuke and Sakura to meld the images of the goofball prankster that they have always known with the man who is so obviously meant to be a  _ leader _ . Naruto would always be  _ Naruto _ . He would always be sunshine personified to his teammates. He would always be a little on the naive side and filled to the brim with love for his precious people. But it was at times like right then, when he charges ahead not caring about hurt feelings, stating what needs to be done. When his blue eyes sharpened so people could understand the seriousness of what needed to be done, they were reminded that if they had  _ stayed, if they hadn’t gone back in time… _

_ Naruto would have been their superior _ .

Itachi leaned back against the tree he was sitting in front of, “how do you know Danzo hasn’t already learned of Shisui’s Mangekyou?”

“Because the only person I’ve ever told about it is you Itachi,” Shisui answers quietly, eyebrows wrinkled together as he thinks of what could cause Danzo to learn about it at all. He honestly had never planned to use  _ that jutsu  _ again until Itachi had approached him about the strange circumstance he was in.

“ Kotoamatsukami takes time to regenerate. While your eyes are being nurtured by your chakra, it only takes a few months for it to be ready again. However, without your chakra it takes years,” Sasuke explains while Shisui nods. He had expected this after he had used the jutsu for the first time. Even activating his Mangekyou afterwards had been a struggle for a month or two. “You are forced to use the jutsu during a mission that some of Danzo’s secret followers are on as well. They tell Danzo and a few weeks later he corners you and takes your eye. That’s how we know Danzo doesn’t know yet.”

Shisui nods in understanding, “so exactly how am I going to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the massacre then?”

Naruto grinned in sheer self-satisfaction. The plan had ultimately been his and he was  _ damn proud _ of it. “First, Sakura will kill Danzo. We have that all rather well planned out and the general idea is that will be accomplished in the next three months. After that, we will make sure you are in the same room as the Hokage and the elders. My question is, how complex are the ‘suggestions’,” the blonde air quoted the word, “are you able to make in a single use?”

“Three people are pushing the limits but it’s achievable. I’ve only used the jutsu twice so I don’t know the full limits. What are you wanting?” Shisui answered.

“Our plan is two fold. First, the Hokage and the elders need to agree to revise the police system since it is largely the current source of the Uchiha’s anger. An inter-clan police division needs to be created in which every major shinobi clan within the village needs to have a certain number of members serving. Fugaku will remain the chief however and be placed in charge of training. Secondly, the Hokage needs to tell the clan heads of his intention to train Itachi as the next Hokage,” the blonde finished.

Itachi and Shisui’s eyes widened. “Sou ka, but what if I don’t want to become Hokage?”

Sakura waved him off, “we’ll cross that bridge later. The point is not for you to become Hokage if you don’t wish to. The point is for the Hokage and elders to appear and act more accepting towards the Uchiha. Now, the other side of this will fall on your shoulders Itachi. You will have to be the one to convince your father and other clan members to accept the Hokage’s olive branch.” Itachi nodded in response, already formulating ideas on how to best approach his father.

Sasuke looked at his brother and cousin carefully, “this is not going to be a quick fix. We need to be careful and monitor the clan. Even if they accept the changes and agree to everything, there’s still going to be hatred and anger. Our clan is a stubborn one and things will not change overnight. We suspect that there will still be dissension among the clan and they won’t bring you back into it like they currently have.”

“They don’t tend to trust me too much anyway so I doubt I’d be brought in either, especially since my friendship with Itachi is well known. However, when you awaken the Sharingan they may consider bringing you in if you show the right attitude,” Shisui said consideringly. 

Sakura gave them a sharp smile, “that’s what we’re counting on. Now, there’s a little more we need to discuss however. We mentioned the massacre was one of the events we wished to change. We need to tell you about the others.”

When the trio finished telling the two teenagers the full scope of what they had come back to change, there was a tenseness to the air. Sasuke refused to look up, instead focusing on tearing apart the grass that surrounded him. Naruto was staring at his best friend and rubbing his right palm distractedly. 

Sakura sighed,  _ those two bakas. Stuck in their own guilt.  _ She leaned over and gathered both boys in her arms, “don’t start that now. You guys are too messy once you start crying,” she whispered in their ears.

Sasuke snorted and forced himself to look at his brother. To anyone else, Itachi’s face would have been emotionless. However, Sasuke saw the spark in his brother’s eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. 

_ There is nothing to forgive, otouto. You learned and you have grown. I love you still.  _

It was Shisui who broke the tense silence, “so how do we stop all  _ that _ ?” 

Naruto smiled softly at the stunned Uchiha, “there’s too many variables right now. We have to take it one step at a time. We need to stop the massacre first and then I think we need to see if we can take out Obito. However, I think the smartest plan would be to wait until we are genin. We are hoping to bring Kakashi-sensei into this as well at that time.”

“Kakashi-senpai would be a good choice. Madar- I mean Obito,” he was still slightly stunned by that particular reveal, amongst others, “is planning on attacking the village. However, based on what you’ve said it probably wouldn’t be until the Akatsuki is ready to try and capture Naruto-kun.” He looked pensive for a moment, considering the best course of action, “I can’t imagine he would try to take you now, you’re too closely watched by the Hokage amongst others. You may not realize it, but you’re constantly being watched by Anbu, Naruto.”

Naruto groaned loudly, “I’m extremely aware of it. We’ve had to come up with some crazy ideas to keep them off our scent since we came back. It’s so annoying.” The blonde huffed, annoyed. None of his ANBU  _ guards _ ever stepped in and helped him when the villagers were being assholes so he wasn’t terribly fond of them.

“We suspect that Obito is waiting for Naruto to be out of the village before he approaches him since that’s what happened last time. Pain only came to the village as a last resort since there had been multiple attempts to capture Naruto and no one had been able to do it,” Sakura explained. Naruto grinned proudly. 

“Dobe, it’s because you were being protected like a child by everyone, not because you were so powerful,” Sasuke teased, a smirk appearing on his face.

Naruto growled, “shows what you know, teme! I defeated Pain on my own so obviously I am SO powerful!” 

Sakura coughed lightly next to them, a glint in her eyes that made her two teammates stop. 

Itachi chucked at their antics before standing, “we’ll wait for your signal to begin everything. If you need to speak to us before then, send a message through Sasuke.” He waved at them before disappearing.

“It was very nice to meet you two,” Shisui said to Naruto and Sakura with a grin on his face. He rather liked the odd trio if he was being honest with himself. It would be interesting to see how things progressed with them. He smirked, “I’ll see you around! Oh, and Sasuke! I’m afraid you’re out of tomatoes!” He disappeared quickly, as Sasuke moved quickly in an attempt to kick his cousin. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I had SO much fun with this chapter. Shisui was a joy to write and I can't wait to write more of him. Also, don't we just love exasperrated, "kill me now" Itachi?


	5. Viraha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto has a request of Itachi and Shisui

_ viraha (n.) the realization of love through separation _

They had discussed it only once, a few months before they had finalized their plans for the jutsu. Naruto had come crashing into their shared home looking lost and panicked. Sasuke and Sakura were in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Or rather, Sakura was preparing dinner and Sasuke was seated on the counter next to her, drinking tea and complaining about the lack of tomatoes in the stew pot she was making. (“Naruto doesn’t like tomatoes.” “Why are you catering to the dobe these days?” “I’m catering to him? I remember someone bringing Ichiraku home the other day because Naruto had mentioned he’d had a difficult time at training.” “Hn.”)

So when the blonde came crashing into the kitchen and screamed, “Hinata-chan confessed her feelings for me!” Sasuke promptly dropped the tea mug in his hand and Sakura cut her finger on the sharp edge of the knife she was using to chop the vegetables. 

Sakura stopped the bleeding and turned to her favorite blonde with a soft smile on her face, “so she finally got the courage to do it? What did you say?” Sakura tried to keep the piercing pain in her heart from showing, the fear that  _ maybe, just maybe Naruto ended up liking Hinata back and it would all end, this delicate dance they had been performing… _

“I told her I didn’t feel the same way. That I liked someone…” Naruto paused, looking at Sakura’s sweet smile and Sasuke’s harsh scowl and clenched fists, “I like someone else. Which is true. But not the full truth. Then she started crying and Kiba started yelling at me and I just kinda panicked and ran away!”

Sakura giggled at her friend and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, “so what do you mean that it’s not the full truth, dobe?”

Naruto froze because the worlds that had tumbled from his mouth a moment ago caught up to him and  _ oh.  _ “Well, teme, it’s uh… uhm”

“Spit it out!” Sasuke was trying  _ very very hard _ to not throw a fit about the Hyuga girl confessing to Naruto. Sure, he knew she like the dobe, fuck everyone but Naruto had known since their academy days! But it didn’t make it easier to hear about it.

Sakura sighed, “I think,” she paused, tucking her long hair behind her ear, “I think we need to have an actual conversation about this.”

The two boys looked at her, still. They’d been skirting around it, _this thing_ , that was obviously growing between the three of them for several months now. There’d been the internal excuses of course. _Sasuke had just come back._ _Naruto needed to focus on his training to become Hokage. Sakura was taking over for Tsunade in the hospital._

They weren’t making excuses anymore.

  
  


Itachi and Shisui were running through the Forty-fourth training ground quickly, dodging the various traps that were laid throughout. Since the first time Shisui had brought Itachi here for a mission, the two Uchiha prodigies used the forest as their primary training grounds. They dodged a sudden rain of senbon that had been triggered and turned around a large tree to see a bright mop of blonde hair and blue eyes. 

Itachi felt the beginnings of a headache form.

Naruto grinned at them from his perch on a thick branch, chubby legs swinging mindlessly, “just the two Uchiha I’ve been searching for!”

The two specified Uchiha’s looked at each other before looking at the blonde, “and why have you been searching for us, Naru-chan?” Shisui asked.

Naruto grinned even bigger, “firstly, Shisui-kun, I am older than you and so therefore I deserve the title of  _ senpai _ , not Naru-chan. Thank you very much. Secondly, I have a favor to ask you and you can’t tell Sasuke about it!”

Itachi’s headache intensified. 

“What are you planning that we aren’t allowed to tell my little brother about?”

Naruto glanced around, eyes sharpening and losing the childish gleam to them (a swift reminder to the two Uchiha prodigies that while Naruto may have been joking around about the senpai title, he  _ was in fact older than them) _ . “Not here, it’s not safe.” The blonde boy stood up and motioned for them to follow him. The three of them moved swiftly and before long found themselves at a small shack outside of Konoha. 

Naruto took a seat on the sun warmed grass outside the dilapidated shack, Shisui and Itachi sitting as well. “You know I'm the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Before we came back, I had established a relationship with him. His name is Kurama and while it took a lot of work, we have come to care for one another in our own way.” 

“You mean, you actually communicate with one of the Bijuu?” Shisui said, awe in his voice.

The blonde boy snorted, “actually I was able to communicate with all of them. My mind became a way for the nine Bijuu to communicate with one another, even across distance. But that’s a long story and it’s a bit hard to explain so let’s just focus on Kurama. I’m cut off from him here, the seal is still so tight that I can’t even begin to summon any of his chakra let alone communicate with him. Near as we can figure, the only way for me to even establish any sort of contact with him is to crack the seal. In our original timeline, that didn’t happen until I was twelve and on a mission gone horribly wrong.” He looked pensive for a moment before looking at the two of them, “we can’t wait that long. Too many things are going to be happening soon and I need to be able to communicate with Kurama. Plus, the crack in the seal was caused by intense emotional disturbance and in all honesty I don’t know how I would achieve that level of pain at this point. At least not without… “ Naruto stopped and shivered, as if whatever he had imagined was horrifying to him. 

“The point is, I need you two to use your very superior Sharingans to crack the seal enough so that I can communicate and start re-establishing my relationship with Kurama.”

“You can’t be serious,” Shisui deadpanned. 

Itachi was glad to report he no longer had a headache. His brain had stopped working and therefore his pain receptors no longer communicated to him that his head hurt. 

Small blessings from Kami, he supposed.

“I’m very serious. I’m wearing my serious business face that Sakura-chan says scares her.”

“Why would you ask us? You’ve already made it clear that Sasuke’s Sharingan is on a whole different level than ours? Also why can’t Sasuke know about this?”

Naruto scratched the back of his head, “well, about that… Kurama doesn’t really like Sasuke. Says he reminds him too much of someone he doesn’t like. We also aren’t entirely sure if Kurama’s consciousness from our time travelled with us, since he and are were so combined at that point. So if he did, he probably won’t be happy to see Sasuke. I also don’t think that Kurama of any timeline would appreciate Sasuke poking around the seal. So, that leaves me with you two!”

“Still doesn’t tell us why we can’t tell Sasuke,” Itachi pointed out.

“The teme disagrees with me. He thinks we should wait and see if we can get the seal to crack naturally like it did before. Or wait until Jiraiya shows up and I can con him into giving me the key. Sasuke thinks that, if my Kurama didn’t follow us then using the Sharingan to crack the seal would cause too much of his chakra to leak and I wouldn’t be able to contain it.”

“So, you’re saying that Sasuke is being reasonable?” Shisui asked, smirking lightly at the growl that came out of the blonde.

“No! The teme is not being reasonable at all! Sakura-chan agrees with me. Sasuke wasn’t around while I worked on my relationship with Kurama. He’s not really aware of what I went through to get the damn fox to open up to me. I have a plan if Kurama didn’t follow me through the jutsu. I know this will work because I know how to manage his chakra. I’ve been managing it my whole life!” Naruto was breathing heavily, his fists clenched tightly. He looked at Itachi and Shisui with a wild look in his eye, “we came back to correct things. This may sound bratty and selfish but Sasuke is the one who stands to gain the most from all this. If it works, he gets his beloved brother in his life. His parents will still be alive. Sakura-chan has always had her parents. I won’t know for years if the people that I hope to save will survive and even then, we don’t know if some other mission or circumstance we can’t predict will take them away again. The damn fox may be a pain in my ass and is the reason the village treats me like garbage right now, but he’s always been there. I finally got to the point where we didn’t hate each other and now he’s gone. I need to crack the seal enough that I can work on this again!”

The two Uchiha boys sat in stunned silence. 

It was Shisui who spoke first after tense silence, “Naruto-kun, how are you wanting us to crack the seal?”

The blonde jinchuuriki looked up, tears in his blue eyes and Itachi felt a fierce wave of protectiveness hit him.  _ So, this is what Sasuke meant by Naruto-kun’s abilities to make everyone love him. _

“I did a lot of research into my seal when I first started studying fuuinjutsu. I think if the two of you place me under a genjutsu, one that makes me believe something horrible is happening, I could be tricked into becoming emotional enough to crack the seal. As soon as that happens though, you’ll have to release me. Otherwise, if my Kurama isn’t there, things could get nasty while I’m working on containing him.”

Shisui nodded, “makes sense. What do you think will make you emotional enough?”

Naruto’s face turned grave, his eyes focusing harshly on the two teenagers, “you’ll have to make me believe Sasuke and Sakura are dead.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the long wait! I had a lot going on in my personal life and writing unfortunately had to be paused. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story. Sorry there's not a lot of trio interaction in this. I just think we needed to explore how Naruto is feeling with the lack of Kurama in his life now!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please leave some love.  
> You can follow me on my Tumblr as well if you like... [aninconsistentwriter](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/aninconsistentwriter)


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